dichotomy

For though we may be the Earth's gardeners, we are also its weeds. And we won't get anywhere until we come to terms with this crucial ambiguity about our role - that we are at once the problem and the only possible solution to the problem.

"A powerful meditation is when contemplating the oneness of everything is to find something's unique qualities. For example, observing an island's wholeness and then focusing upon the uniqueness of a single stone. Westerners are dealing with this dichotomy on a grand scale. This meditation is simple but powerful. It's like physical exercise. One can practice it just once a day or as often as one likes. Other examples to meditate upon (other than an individual stone on the island beach) are faces in a crowd or a leaf on a tree. Each person (in the crowd) is unique and yet (at that very moment) part of the whole. The same is true for leaves on the trees. Practicing this deceptively easy meditation helps each of us to see reality. Some need to practice distancing themselves from materialism while others need to get more grounded in the material world. This meditation specifically balances these two types of people."